Hundreds of Japanese gamers queued from dawn today to be the first in the world to get their hands on the latest addition to the Final Fantasy role-playing series, whose popularity Sony is banking on to boost Christmas sales of its PlayStation 3 console.

The game's Japanese creator, Square Enix, said it hoped to sell at least 2m copies of Final Fantasy XIII domestically, which would make it the first PS3 title to sell more than 1m units in Japan. Analysts said worldwide sales of the latest instalment of the 22-year-old game could reach 5.6m.

This is the first time the title has appeared on the PS3 platform; the US and European versions, which go on sale on 9 March, will also be available for Microsoft's Xbox 360, the second most popular games console after the Nintendo Wii. (Final Fantasy XIII is not appearing on the Wii.)

The game has sold more than 92m units worldwide since its release in 1987.

With a price tag of about US$100 (£60), the success of the game would provide a much-needed boost for game software sales in Japan, which declined 7.5% to 132.9bn yen (about £900m) in the six months to 30 September from a year earlier, according to Enterbrain, a Japanese magazine publisher and analyst.

Some industry watchers expect the title to increase PS3 sales by 500,000 units. That will be important for Sony, which has languished in third place for sales of the PS3 since it was released – after significant delays and high production costs – in November 2006, nearly a year after the Xbox 360 and Wii. That allowed its rivals to consolidate markets, and Microsoft has focused recently on ensuring that some hit games are sold only on the Xbox 360, such as Forza Motorsport 2 and 3, Gears of War and Halo 3.

The price cut helped make the PS3 the top-selling console in the US during September, the first time it had outstripped sales of both the Wii and Xbox 360.

In Final Fantasy's latest incarnation, which was five years in the making, players use a combination of magic and technology to help their characters battle enemies and progress through a futuristic setting.

"Of course, you can complete the game relatively quickly if you want, but if you take your time you'll be able to live inside the game for several months," said Square Enix's president, Yoichi Wada.